The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) on Tuesday said it would not be intimidated by the “no work, no pay” circular issued to its members.
Olayanju Taiwo, Chairman, COEASU, Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka chapter, told newsmen in Lagos that the circular was ill-timed, adding that a circular from the Federal Ministry of Education sent to the Colleges on March 21, directed the stoppage of the salaries of the lecturers, who were on strike.
He noted that such a directive was not supposed to come at a time when the representatives of the government and the union were still in dialogue.
“The directive came as a shock because it was at a time that the government officials were having a smooth dialogue with the union officials in Abuja,” he said.
Taiwo explained that the government officials had made a verbal commitment to meeting about 95 per cent of the union’s demand during the meeting.
According to the chairman, the union was only waiting for an approval from the appropriate quarters before taking a decision.
Taiwo said that the circular was, however, a setback to efforts of both parties toward ending the strike.
“Such circular will not make us go back to the classroom because in unionism, it is no retreat, no surrender,” he said.
Taiwo said that the union members would continue with the strike until all their demands were met.
COEASU had on Dec. 31, 2013 declared an indefinite nationwide strike to press home its demands. It had complained about the poor state of infrastructure in the colleges, as well as their poor funding.
The union also rejected the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) already operational in the Federal Civil Service and the non-implementation of the 2010 Federal Government-COEASU agreement.
Follow Us